Telephone lines, which are carried by electrical conductors known as tip ring wire pairs, are generally aggregated at a particular point in a building prior to being distributed and connected to various types of telephone equipment, such as, for example, telephones, fax machines, modems etc. As the tip ring pairs generally enter the building as part of a multi-conductor cable, the individual tip ring wire pairs must first be broken out from the cable into individual wire pairs. This is normally accomplished in a junction box known as, for example, a building entrance protector (BEP), or network interface unit NIU). Within such devices the individual telephone line tip ring pairs are separated from the cable, individually connected to a connector block, and made available for further electrical connection and distribution. Usually there is a protector device inserted between the telephone and central office, or network side of the telephone line and the customer equipment or terminal side of the telephone line to protect the telephone and user, or other equipment connected to the telephone line, from hazardous overvoltages induced in the telephone network or in the cables passing between the telephone central office and the building within which the line is terminated.
In a typical arrangement, the telephone lines coming from the network are first wired to a protector field, which is an array of connectors for receiving the protector device, which is in turn hard wired to a first connector block which provides a first test point for testing the telephone line connections between the building and telephone central office. This first terminal block is hard wired to a multi pair connector, most typically a twenty-five pair connector of the RJ21 type, for further connection to an array of customer bridges which are also hard wired and connectorized via a mating RJ21 connector. The use of a customer bridge permits a subscriber to disconnect terminal equipment from a telephone line so that the subscriber can isolate troubles on the line as originating in the telephone network, or on the terminal equipment side of the telephone line.
Additionally, there are known insulation displacement connector (IDC) blocks for use in such junction boxes and/or distribution fields, such as the ubiquitous punch down connector block, also known as a 66-type connector block, and the tool-less insulation displacement connector blocks utilizing push cap connectors, such as that described in U.S Pat. No. 4,913,659 dated Apr. 3, 1990, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such a connector block is commercially available under the product designation SC99 from Lucent Technologies Inc. Other connectors used for telephony wiring applications are described in U.S Pat. No. 4,662,699 to Vachhani et al., dated May 5, 1987, and in U.S Pat. No. 3,611,264 to Ellis, dated Oct. 5, 1971. Also widely available are tool-less IDC's known as Mini-Rocker Connectors such as those sold by A.C. Egerton Ltd., which hold a tip-ring wire pair in terminals retained under a single moveable cap through which both wires of the pair are inserted.
The tip and ring wires held within such tool-less IDC connectors are strain relieved only to the extent held by the compressive force exerted by the IDC terminal holding the bare wire which has been stripped of its insulation layer. Reference is made to FIG. 1 which illustrates a terminal strip, generally indicated as 1, constructed in accordance with the prior art.
Terminal strip 1 has a longitudinal axis shown generally as arrow Y in FIG. 1, and includes a first arm 2, having a first tip 4, and a second arm 3, having a second tip 5. First tip 4 and second tip 5 form therebetween a wire gripping region 6 for retaining a tip or ring wire 30 therein. Terminal strip 1 includes a base 7 formed by first arm 2 and second arm 3 at the end opposite first tip 4 and second tip 5. Terminal strip 1 is contained within a prior art insulation displacement connector, as known in the art. When wire 30 is placed in wire gripping region 6 in a manner known in the art, the insulation layer (not shown) around wire 30 is stripped and the bare wire 30 is held in place solely by the compressive force exerted by first tip 4 and second tip 5 on wire 30. This force provides minimal strain relief. While this prior art IDC works for its intended purpose, a significant drawback to this prior art IDC is that when a pulling force is applied to the tip or ring wire, wire 30 is easily stripped and disconnected from terminal strip 1. The addition of additional components to the connector in order to provide for a better strain relieved connector raises the production cost of the IDC.